646 - SCHRÖDEL BROTHERS

SCHRÖDEL BROTHERS Dresden Title: Large Silver Cloche from a Service of Elector Friedrich August III. Date: 1791. Material: Silver. Weight approx. 2370 g. Dimensions: Height 23 cm, 43 x 27 cm. Seal: Dresden inspection mark (Rosenberg no. 1671), several assayer’s marks, maker’s mark of the Schrödel brothers (ca. 1770), ibid. no. 1815). Description: Large domed cloche with a slightly scalloped rim. The finia at the top is formed from leaves. On the bottom, the monogram “FA im Schilde unter Kurhut” is engraved, along with inventory number 11 and weight details “10 Mr. 6 lt. 1p 3d.” This dish cover is listed on page 430 of the Chur-fürstl.-Sächßl. Silber-Kammer-Inventarium, Volume 1ter, dated 1789, and is one of a group of twelve examples of this size. A note beneath the entry states, in essence, that the Schrödel brothers crafted the pieces from 13-lot silver and that the value of the silver and the workmanship were settled according to an invoice dated November 1791. The present dish cover therefore formed part of a later supplementary delivery to the Dresden court. A further entry indicates that the covers were altered or reworked again in 1798. This may have concerned the shape of the handles, which differs slightly from that of earlier examples: whereas earlier dish covers feature berries in addition to foliage, the handle here is composed exclusively of leaves. The covers for serving dishes, referred to as “Glocken” at the Dresden court in the eighteenth century, served both a representative and a practical purpose. They enhanced the ceremonial presentation of the courtly table, kept food warm, and protected it from contamination. The model depicted here is characteristic of the Dresden court style of the late eighteenth century and was produced in both oval and circular forms. The present dish cover belongs to the so-called “silver service with FA in the shield,” made for Frederick Augustus III of Saxony (1750–1827). The service was commissioned in 1772 and was expanded on several occasions during the remainder of the eighteenth century. Its creation was linked to the aftermath of the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), during which large portions of Saxony’s silver holdings had been melted down. Preparations for new commissions began in 1765 and gained further momentum following the marriage of Frederick Augustus III to Amalie Auguste of Palatinate-Zweibrücken in 1769. Carl David Schrödel (1712–1773) was entrusted with the execution; after his death, his widow and his twin sons, Carl Christian and Friedrich Christian Schrödel (both 1745–1810), continued to work for the Dresden court. In the Saxon court silver inventory, the service is recorded as “A silver service marked with ‘FA’ on the shield.” The service was likely dispersed in 1918 in connection with the settlement of the House of Wettin. Today, dishes and dish covers from the service are preserved in the Grünes Gewölbe in Dresden. Pieces of cutlery from the service were also offered and sold as part of the so-called Moritzburg Treasure at Sotheby’s in London on December 17, 1999. Provenance: - Private collection in Hesse, later transferred to a foundation. Bibliography: - Ulli Arnold: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden Grünes Gewölbe. Dresdner Hofsilber des 18. Jahrhunderts (PATRIMONIA 74), Berlin/Dresden, 1994. - Friedrich August Freiherr O'Byrn: The Court Silver Chamber and the Court Cellar in Dresden, Dresden, 1880. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: This lot is not suitable for parcel shipping. Transport must be arranged by a shipping company following consultation after the auction. Additional shipping insurance Shipping insurance up to a total invoice amount of 25,000 euros: max. 41.65 euros over a total invoice amount of 25,000 euros: 1.8 per thousand Shipping to the U.S. by individual arrangement after the auction. #Schrödel Brothers #Germany #18th C. #Silver.